HE’S one of the world’s biggest rap stars who is known for his colourful – and sometimes controversial – lifestyle.

And now Snoop Dogg – the US rapper, record producer, actor, entrepreneur – has left his fans gobsmacked by a series of bizarre videos posted online to promote his upcoming Cardiff show.

The star, who was forced to cancel his previous tour to Wales in 2007 after he was denied a UK visa, has appeared on YouTube paying tribute to a series of Welsh figures – from the famous to the obscure.

Among the subjects of his videos, all filmed with him wearing a blue Cardiff City shirt, were footballers Ryan Giggs: “Shout out to Ryan Giggs, 20 years in the game, I want you to come to my show so we can celebrate,” – and Gareth Bale: “Shout out to Gareth Bale, player of the year last year. I want to let y’all know I’ve been player of the year many times”.

His subjects then became a touch more obscure, turning to Olympic sailing hopeful Hannah Mills: “Just made it to the Olympics, what an achievement – I want you to go out there, break a record and win a gold medal.”

But arguably the most peculiar was Ian Neale – the Newport amateur gardener who featured in the Western Mail earlier this month after growing the world’s largest swede.

“Shout out to my homeboy Ian Neale in Cardiff for breaking the world record for the biggest vegetable,” he said.

Snoop also posted a video about Tiana Hinton, a nine-year-old girl who chased a robber who had stolen her mum’s purse while the pair were shopping in Cardiff.

“She looked out for her mama – this fool tried to steal her mama’s purse. She caught up to him. Sunshine you are a real hero,” he said.

BBC Radio Wales DJ Bethan Elfyn, who is going to Snoop’s gig in Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena on October 8, said it was unusual to see such a global star pay so much attention to his fans in one particular city.

She said: “My first question is, ‘Is he doing this for every city he is going to?’. He’s one of the hip hop icons of the past 20 years so for him to film these videos is so refreshing. How often do you see someone as big as him taking the time to do what he’s done?

“It’s pretty funny seeing someone that big wearing a local football shirt and standing in front of the Welsh flag. You’ve got to give credit to his team, they’ve really done their research and it’s got people talking.”

As well as posting videos online Snoop also turned to Twitter to ask his fans in the capital where they would recommend to eat.

“I want 2 know about the best fried chicken in Chip Alley,” he tweeted first, before then inquiring of food blog site Cardiff Bites where he could buy waffles in the Welsh capital.

Then, taking up his knowledge of city landmarks, he asked his followers: “Wheres d best fish n chips n #cardiff? at albany fish bar or the codfather?!”

“Completely out of the blue I got a tweet from Snoop Dogg. I’ve no idea how he or his people came to find me or my blog, it was so surreal. At first I thought ‘is this serious?’ because I know people set up fake accounts but his was verified.

“I have to admit I’m not particularly familiar with the waffle houses in Cardiff but I have some great followers and I saw it as a great chance to throw it open to them. I was then inundated with suggestions about where and what he should eat.

“I don’t know whether it was a publicity stunt but if it is it’s certainly worked – I for one didn’t know he was coming to Cardiff before he tweeted me.”